The newly-minted Republican presidential candidate was responding to criticism from Romney during a visit to the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. In New Hampshire earlier Monday, Romney said he is the only contender in the GOP presidential race with extensive experience in both business and government.
CNN asked Perry about the criticism.

Pressing his hands to his lips - then blowing a kiss – Perry's message to Romney: "Give him my love."

CNN pressed Perry on the substance of Romney's dig.

"I think it's oranges and apples," Perry said. "Running a state is different from running a business. What I would say is go take a look at his [Romney's] record when he was governor and my record when I'm governor. Then you got some apples to apples."

Romney isn't the only GOP competitor Perry addressed from the booth of the Iowa Republican Party. CNN also asked the Texas governor about criticism from fellow GOP candidate Michele Bachmann's campaign, which has criticized Perry for not participating in last week's GOP presidential debate or the Ames straw poll on Saturday.

Perry's response to that was essentially a verbal kiss off.

"We're here," Perry said.

Perry visited the Iowa GOP booth after speaking at the "soapbox" at the state fair – a few bales of hay where presidential contenders have addressed supporters, the press and critics since last week. The governor laced his speech with a mix of policy prowess, job-creation bombast and southern folksiness.

"I know what this country needs. And we need to get Americans back working," Perry thundered. "We need to be able to create an environment in this country where anybody that wants to work can find that job. And I'm really proud of what we've done in the state of Texas in the last decade."

Perry continued: "40 percent of all the jobs created in America – from June of 2009 until the present – were created in Texas. I know how to create jobs. You let the private sector - free them up from over taxation, free them up from over regulation, free them up from over litigation. And government, get out of the way. Let the private sector do what the private sector do what it knows how to do."

"He's coming into Iowa here in a little bit. And I'm asking him to do something," Perry said. "He says he's on a listening tour. So I'm gonna talk to him. And here's what I wanna say to him. 'Mister President, you need to free up the employers of this country to create jobs.'"

While Perry is making job creation in Texas the centerpiece of his presidential campaign, there is more to the story.

CNN Money reports that "Texas leads the nation in minimum-wage jobs, and many positions don't offer health benefits. Also, steep budget cuts are expected to result in the loss of more than 100,000 jobs."

The site also reports that "Texas enjoys advantages that have nothing to do with having Perry at the helm."

Meanwhile, Perry showed off some of his southern charm that's attracted supporters and could woo others.

The governor talked about his love for the Second Amendment's right to bear arms.

soundoff(122 Responses)

jon

This is great - another nut case in the Republican camp. Let 'em keep talking and chopping each other down. And then Obama can have the second term he needs to straighten out eight years of Republican mess.

I wonder what will be said in the history books years from now about the how the Tea Party has fit into American politics? Perry is just another one of them. Good luck, t-baggers.

August 15, 2011 10:24 pm at 10:24 pm |

L4Legend

Slick Rick. You tell'um. The truth about this guy is coming out and we'll all see that he's all talk and no substance. Can't wait to see him tore down like a cheap curtain in the cheap trailer.

August 15, 2011 10:27 pm at 10:27 pm |

sayer

Oh, no, not again!!

August 15, 2011 10:33 pm at 10:33 pm |

Clwyd

how do you spell jerk? P E R R Y! The C and D student in history and economics who wants to be president! Good God we had one like that before in GW and look at the mess he left us all!

August 15, 2011 10:38 pm at 10:38 pm |

PWMcGill

For you complacent with minimum wage: Wonder why houses aren't being sold, because fewer and fewer folks can't afford to buy a house on their earnings. Guess what? Home sales built the economy we were use to. The unions helped everyone earn living wages and to counterbalance the frequently greedy entrepreneur and corporate executive who wanted to increase profits and their personal income at the expense of the rank and file. GOPers are instrumental in the demise of the middle class and for you complacent with the income they will permit you – good luck. If you are voting for them you deserve exactly what you get.

August 15, 2011 10:44 pm at 10:44 pm |

nimby

It's wonderful an actually Texas law enforcement governor prosecuting a child molestation cult associated in some ways with another presidential candidate's cult like church. They don't make thriller movies like this in Hollywood, i wonder how it will all turn out.

August 15, 2011 10:49 pm at 10:49 pm |

SiriusVH

Texas is the second largest economy in the U.S., with a GDP in excess of $1 tril. As of 2011, Texas also represents 8.1% of the U.S. population and produces 8.3% of the U.S. GDP. So, clearly, having Perry run for President warrants curiosity about the Texas economy.

The two big, and related questions, are

1. Is there a ‘Texas miracle’?
2. If there is one, can it be spread to the rest of America, as Perry would like you to believe?

The Texas miracle: It is undeniable that Texas has been hit less than the rest of the economy by the Great Recession and has come out of it faster than the rest of the country. There are some relatively simple and, equally undeniable reasons for that:

a. Texas is an energy-rich country and, like other energy-rich states (and countries) has benefitted from both rises in oil prices and in output. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Review (first quarter 2011), in 2010, output of oil and gas increased by 121%, output of mining products increased by 112% and output of petroleum and coal products increased by 51%. Not surprisingly, statistics also show that a great deal of the growth in employment in Texas is either directly or indirectly related to the expansion of the oil/natural gas sector. In June 2011, Texas’ oil and gas industry employment returned to its pre-recession highs with 224,200 workers involved in exploration and production according to the Texas Petroleum Index.

b. Texas faces an almost infinitely-elastic supply of cheap, young, unskilled labor from neighboring states, Mexico and other Latin American countries. That explains why, the vast majority of the jobs created by Texas and minimum-wage jobs (in fact, Texas leads the nation in minimum-wage jobs). This also explains why Texas is having problems reducing its rate of unemployment (currently at 8.2%). There are 25 states with unemployment rates below Texas.

c. Texas has a low-regulation, cheap labor philosophy designed to keep profits high.

d. Texas was less hit by the housing crisis than the rest of the country, to their credit, most definitely. It would seem that the demand for and supply of loans that could not be paid was lower than elsewhere. According to the Mortgage Bankers’ Association, only 6% of Texas borrowers are in foreclosure (the national average is 10%).

In a nutshell, you can think of Texas as a combination of China’s coastal areas (flooded with cheap labor coming from the hinterland and no regulation to speak of) and Saudi Arabia (for obvious reasons). Evidence of the ‘flood’ of labor is easy to find: since 2007, the state's number of working-age residents has expanded by 6.6%, nearly twice the national average.

It is mostly the above facts that explain Texas’ success.

Perry seems to be making a big deal that he is using the government’s resources to attract companies from neighboring states. The fact that Texas is subsidizing companies to come and operate in Texas is, strictly, speaking, a waste of resources, as anyone who has taken Economics 101 will tell you. In fact, of all people, the conservatives should be the ones against industry subsidies.

That brings us to the second question: How many states in America are blessed with such resources? Not many, unfortunately. So Perry’s claims that he can apply his ‘conservative philosophy’ to the entire nation and obtain the same degree of success, needs to be taken with a HUGE grain of salt. If America were a collection of Texas’, we would not be in the situation where we are and the recession might have resolved itself by now.

Finally, we should not forget that, part of Texas’ ability to keep people employed stems from it having received around $18 bil. in Federal assistance through Obama’s stimulus package (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009). For fiscal year 2010-2011 alone, Texas has received $12,058,787,615 (Source: Susan Combs Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Window on State Government, ARRA Funds appropriated). This money is drying up now and Texas is having to cut public spending to balance its budget. In May 2011, Perry cut government spending by $15 bil.. This will have an impact on employment that should play itself out in 2012. Until now, they have been under the radar screen because Texas reviews its budget only every two years. It is expected that Texas will lose about 100,000 jobs as result of such cuts. Furthermore, ignoring the effects of the drying up of Federal assistance, given its population growth, Texas would need to create another 629,000jobs just to reach its pre-recession employment (source: Economic Policy Institute).

Now, the ‘not-so-great’ about Texas:

1. Texas ranks near the bottom, nationwide, in education spending per pupil

2. Texas leads in the percentage of residents without health insurance

3. Texas’ cheap land and zoning policies have made housing very cheap (rents are incredibly low in Texas) and have artificially spurred immigration. This makes it more difficult to reduce the rate of unemployment.

4. According to Richard W. Fisher, President and Chief Executive of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, Texas does not have any great universities (Texas counts only six of the top 100 U.S. universities as ranked by U.S. News & World report). He is quoted as saying “How do we expect to be great when we have so few great universities? I would submit to you that the key to success is to have great research universities.”

August 15, 2011 11:22 pm at 11:22 pm |

Numyorangay

Trying to tell you, this dude's on the DL. . .teabagging is his sport. . .check for abrasions on his chin.

August 15, 2011 11:28 pm at 11:28 pm |

nosweat

To go Perry...sucks to be you. 1st off he didnt create any of those jobs. He doesnt even own a Mickey Ds. Dont compaire welfare with unemployment. U only get unempoyment if youve lost your job that you worked at over a year and paid into with taxes by u and employer and u still are taxed on those benifits.

August 15, 2011 11:34 pm at 11:34 pm |

drogo, the stallion that mounts the world almost

Perry seems to be a replica of Bush...his mannerismS are so alike it bears on scary!

August 15, 2011 11:55 pm at 11:55 pm |

Erick

Ron Paul 2012

August 15, 2011 11:57 pm at 11:57 pm |

Bushper

The air head governor should run for president of texas.America and Texas are two different countries.Ok! Good.

August 16, 2011 12:25 am at 12:25 am |

FBMarky

I KNEW he was gay! I wish he'd blow me a kiss.

August 16, 2011 12:54 am at 12:54 am |

independent

Good ole boy, successionist Rick Perry: gosh, if you can't change government, just succeed from it.

August 16, 2011 12:55 am at 12:55 am |

normajean

THIS IS A MAN WHO SAID TEXAS DIDN'T WANT STIMULOUS MONEY AND COULD TAKE CARE 0F THEMSELVES, THEN.....WHEN THEY HAD SOME MAJOR FIRES, HE CRIED LIKE CRAZY BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT DIDN'T COME TO THEIR AID......HE ALSO MADE A BIG PUBLIC DEAL OF SAYING THAT HIS STATE WANTED TO BREAK WITH THE UNION......HE ISN'T STABLE ENOUGH TO BE PRESIDENT. IV'E READ THAT EVEN TEXANS DON'T LIKE HIM!!!! IF HE'S MIXED UP WITH ROVE, WE DON'T WANT ANY PART OF THAT MESS!!!!!

August 16, 2011 01:38 am at 1:38 am |

MARTINANGEL

I think a Bachmann Perry or Perry Bachmann ticket is in tall order. Who wants to flip a coin for who is President?

Both of them know how to cut waste and balance budgets. That's WHY liberals hate them!!!!

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August 16, 2011 02:25 am at 2:25 am |

Limbaugh is a liberal

Perry said: 'What I would say is go take a look at his [Romney's] record when he was governor and my record when I'm governor. '
Okay, let's do that... Texas still ranks near the bottom in education and health care for children, while Massachusetts (during Romney AND still) ranks at the top. TX has above average poverty and crime, MA has much lower than average in both. TX has a high incarceration rate, MA doesn't. TX has an atrocious environmental record that has destroyed community after community, MA doesn't.
Oh, and MA could create jobs without relying on nearly $30 billion in stimulus funding to cover its budget gaps, TX couldn't.

August 16, 2011 06:12 am at 6:12 am |

Peter E

Amusing, the governor who LOOOOVES America so much he was contemplating seceding from it for a couple of years now wants to run it.

August 16, 2011 06:16 am at 6:16 am |

NATHAN WIMBERLY

Tbe teabagger revolt against Romney has begun. The GOBP can't blame the lamestream media for this one. Their own monster who gave them Sharon Angle,Joe Miller and Witch ODonnell struck again in Iowa. Obama 2012!

August 16, 2011 06:26 am at 6:26 am |

Ralph

So let's look at Rick Perry's record as the Governor of Texas; and his "success" is a hoax! His Texas budget has a deficit that is worse than New York’s!

Texas is not a recession-proof state. Texas has a booming Oil industry that Perry can't take credit for. And remember, Texas also has a rapidly growing population. So with this rising population, Texas needs MUCH MORE jobs than the rest of the country just to keep up with a growing work force.

And TEXAS is tied for first place with Mississippi for having the most MINIMUM WAGE JOBS!

The ugly truth about the Texas budget is they have relied for years on SMOKE & MIRRIORS TO CREATE THE ILLUSION OF SOUND FINACES in the face of a serious budget deficit.

One of the things that, ( so far), lets Rick Perry get away with claims of a surplus is the subtle fact that TEXAS ENACTS BUDGETS ONCE EVERY 2 YEARS, & the last budget was put in place before the worst of the economic crisis hit. Now the next budget must be passed, & Texas will likely have a $25 BILLION HOLE to fill.

Another ugly Texas truth? The only reason Rick Perry balanced the budget in 2009 was because he accepted BILLIONS of FEDERAL STIMULUS money!

I confess I am perplexed by Rick Perry's (and others like Bachmann, ect), appeal. I fear their appeal lies in concealed hate and prejudice, ie, their claim of religious piety and patriotism are really another slightly more subtle version of David Duke and his code words for discrimination.

August 16, 2011 06:57 am at 6:57 am |

PJ

Take it from someone who had Romney as Gov. He was a disaster. Two years of travel and two years of campaigning. A huge staff of PR folks who staged every appearance. He used us to get into the 2008 campaign. He left a huge deficit hidden during the last days in office. And, he offered higher taxes to S & P in exchange for AAA rating. And don't forget the jobs he outsourced which kept the job level steady (no increase and no decrease) for his 4 years. We did get Romneycare though.